Love to learn

Create invitations with calligraphy lettering

Follow our step by step guide

In this project you’ll learn how to create beautiful party or wedding invitations featuring modern brush calligraphy. To help you get started we’ve collaborated with artist and calligrapher Liz Tu from Letter Me! who specialises in calligraphy for weddings and parties.

Download Resources

Step 1: Prepare your invite

Some invitations utilise calligraphy throughout the invitation, however many popular and modern styles combine calligraphy lettering with computer-generated fonts. As calligraphy is best for headings and subtitles. To use a mix of both, start by laying out your invitation at home on your computer with all the details in a ready-to-print format, and save to a USB to print in-store. Remember to leave space for your calligraphy lettering.

Step 2: Choose your materials

There are so many different types of board and paper cardstock for you to choose from; colours, metallics, textured, etc. Keep in mind that it may be difficult to print on cardstock that is over 250gsm, so you may wish to print on parchment paper or transparent vellum, and layer it on top of heavier cardstock. Complement your colour theme with the extensive range of coloured brush pens.

Step 3: Practise your calligraphy

Before lettering directly on your invitation, practise how to calligraph on paper first. Use the Letter Me! Practise Sheet to practice writing the phrase you want to use. First trace over the letter, and then try to write your own letters freehand!

Step 4: Calligraphy time

Make sure to give yourself enough space on the invitation for your calligraphy and start writing. If you’re not confident with lettering directly on your invitations, use the Letter Me! Practise Sheet and place it under your vellum or transparent paper so that you can trace on to the card. Then, use the brush pens of your choice to create the calligraphy. Remember to apply pressure on your downstrokes to achieve thicker lines, and light pressure on your upstrokes to produce thin lines.

Step 5: Create your invitation

Cut your board and paper/s to size. Glue the vellum or parchment paper that you have beautifully lettered on, to the board. Remember to wait until the brush pen ink has dried thoroughly before touching the vellum as it may smudge.

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